Bread WIN!

Finally, a successful bread baking experiment! After a long hiatus from checking out the site, I stopped by Brown Eyed Baker last night to get some inspiration for all the holiday cookies I'm making. Like my Martha Stewart Cookie book or her various holiday cookie magazines aren't enough!

While there, I found this recipe for sandwich bread that seemed fairly easy for my novice self to try. It only took a few hours from start to finish as opposed to an entire day waiting for the dough to rise. So not only was it easier and quicker, it turned out FABULOUS! Husband even liked it! We didn't wait long before carving into it.

Now, it's not perfect- you can tell by the air holes, but it's a start. Unfortunately it's a white bread, but I'm hoping it can be made whole wheat pretty simply. I subbed in skim milk (whole milk in this house?) and used bread flour for part of the flour it called for.

I got up early this morning (stupid cat) and proceeded to get my bake on while snow fell outside. On Thursday we have a holiday potluck at the office, and I have to bring a dessert. I've opted for a cookie assortment so that I can try out a few things. So far I've made dough for Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, Diana's thumbprint cookies I made at Thanksgiving, and the rum balls I also made at Thanksgiving...although this time I really upped the amount of rum. Hopefully this translates to a stronger rum smell/flavor. I also bought chocolate sprinkles to roll them in as opposed to the sanding sugar the recipe calls for that I used last time. They looked like doughnut holes!

I've also got Allie's Eggnog Caramels chilling in the fridge. After my disappointing attempt before, I wanted to try making caramel again. This recipe was perfect because I had a carton of eggnog wasting away waiting in the fridge. In place of the corn syrup from my last recipe, this called for molasses and honey. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of molasses. At least this time my caramel is dark! Hopefully when I go to cut it, it holds its shape. Not looking forward to cutting out a bunch of tiny parchment squares to wrap them in. I hope they'll stay fresh for Thursday!

I'll make sure to get pictures posted this week of the finished products. Instead of my iPhone, I'm trying out my ancient digital camera to see if those turn out better.